Signed up for SKCC and after procrastinating, finally decided to get on the air. I looked for a K3Y station and answered his CQ. I about froze when he came back! I must have corrected myself about 3 times. Had a death grip on my key. Then the QSB started then QRM.... lots of QRM! But we got the basic info exchanged. I'm glad I finally "dih-dit". Feels good to get that first one done! Now that I think about it... seems funny that I would go into panic mode on my first QSO. Must be the novice experience.

Just like my first one too Eric. And that was only10 months ago... I'm new myself and my main problem is getting enough QSOs to get better. many of the stations I copy strongly are in Europe and are calling DX.

Logged

Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness. George Orwell

Just like my first one too Eric. And that was only10 months ago... I'm new myself and my main problem is getting enough QSOs to get better. many of the stations I copy strongly are in Europe and are calling DX.

try 40m FISTS calling freq .7.028, plenty of lads on who will gladly qso you at speeds your comfortable with ... a tip , get an mp3 player and stick some morse on it . "just learn morse code" is a good program to convert plain text into code .. stick stuff on your interested in so it keeps your concentration PLUS you already have an idea what being "talked" about ..

I listen to a lot about fishing and just started listening to case files on Jack the Ripper.

I still remember my first contact as a Novice. I was 15 and called CQ and lo and behold the guy that answered turned out to be 15 years old too, albeit with a little more experience than me at the time. As far as being nervous, I was lucky, I had my Father standing behind me copying in his head and giving me fills of anything I missed!73,Michael, W4HIJ

Congratulations!! You will be glad that you joined the SKCC and will find a great bunch of CW operators. You have accomplished thehardest part - - the first one. Just remember that it only gets better with practice. Keep operating CW and make as many contacts as you can. Listen to how some of the better operators sound and practice to achieve a similar sound in your sending.

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